2011 Server Roadmaps

More cores and new architectures are in store for mainstream servers in 2011. AMD plans to introduce a very different kind of x86 core and a 16-core server chip that it hopes will make it more competitive in the year ahead, while Intel hopes to keep its lead by moving its "Sandy Bridge" architecture with a new internal bus to the server market.

More cores and new architectures are in store for mainstream servers in 2011. AMD plans to introduce a very different kind of x86 core and a 16-core server chip that it hopes will make it more competitive in the year ahead, while Intel hopes to keep its lead by moving its "Sandy Bridge" architecture with a new internal bus to the server market.

AMD's Roadmap

AMD's plans build on its upcoming "Bulldozer" core, which takes a very different approach than previous generation x86 cores. What this effectively does is create units of two integer cores with a single floating point core, albeit one that includes two 128-bit floating point multiply accumulate (FMAC) units that can be combined to do 256-bit calculations, if necessary. In addition to the floating point unit, each set of two integer cores will share fetch and decode components, as well as a single Level 2 cache.

As a result, the company says it can offer more integer cores than its competitors but still reduce the size of the chip die.

The Bulldozer cores should start appearing in actual chips toward the middle of the year, with AMD forecasting production for the second quarter, and real systems coming out in the third quarter of 2011.

These first chips will include "Valencia," a version with 6-8 integer cores aimed at the single- and dual-socket market; and "Interlagos," a dual-die version with 8, 12, or 16 integer cores aimed at dual and quad-socket servers. These will be the company's first server chips manufactured on Globalfoundries' 32nm process, which should allow more cores in the same die area than the company's current 45nm chips.

Those existing chips will be the bulk of the company's server offerings in the first half of 2011. These are known as "Lisbon," in the single-die version with 4 or 6 cores and "Magny-Cours" in the dual-die version with 8 or 12 cores, and are sold under the Opteron 4000 and 6000 brands respectively. Again, the single-die version is aimed at single and dual-socket servers for what AMD considers the "energy-efficient and cost-optimized" market, while the dual-die version is aimed at dual- and quad-socket servers aimed at higher performance and higher performance per watt.

Intel has been gaining server share lately, and its plans seem a bit more incremental. Rather than focusing on the sheer number of physical cores, the company has been talking up its version of symmetric multithreading (which it calls "hyperthreading"), as this allows two threads to run on a single core when there is enough bandwidth, while requiring relatively little additional die area.

Intel is already shipping a 32nm mainstream server part, known as "Westmere-EP" with up to 6 cores and 12 threads, as part of its Xeon family. This includes the Xeon 3600 series, aimed at single-socket servers; and Xeon 5600, aimed at dual-socket servers. (Older 45-nm quad-core versions are available as 3500 and 5500). Intel also ships older quad-core chips based on its 45nm technology within the 3000 and 5000 lines.

In the year ahead, the company plans to offer a version for one-processor servers called "Sandy Bridge - H2" (which sounds mostly like a variant of the desktop chips) and for mainstream 2-socket servers, known as "Sandy Bridge-EP."

Intel hasn't disclosed much about this chip, which isn't due until the second half of 2011, but you can expect it to include the ring architecture that is part of the basic Sandy Bridge design, which Intel designers said would be particularly well-suited for multi-socket designs. The company has said that different server versions will have different levels of graphics, cache, and scalability, depending on their markets. As usual, I would expect Intel to include its hyperthreading feature, and thus to emphasize the number of threads the chip can handle. All the Sandy Bridge designs are based on 32nm process technology, with a 22nm shrink known as "Ivy Bridge" due in 2012.

In addition, the company has an 8-core chip based on its older 45nm technology, called "Nehalem-EX" offered mainly in the high-end multi-socket servers under the Xeon 7000 moniker.

For the year ahead, the company has disclosed plans for "Westmere-EX," a 32nm chip aimed at multi-socket servers, with up to 10 cores and 20 threads. This is said to have 4 QPI system interconnects and is designed for 2-, 4-, or 8-socket servers, where the Xeon 7000 series plays.

For 2012, this would likely be followed by a version called "Sandy Bridge-EX." Again, these systems are aimed at the very high-end of the x86 marketplace.

Alternatives

Of course, there are lots of other server architectures, ranging from traditional high-end competitors like IBM with its POWER chips; Oracle (formerly Sun) and Fujitsu with their SPARC chips; and Intel with its Itanium series. Meanwhile, we're seeing some interest in using low-power chips (mostly based on ARM core designs, such as the new Cortex-A15, but also Intel's Atom and potentially AMD's Bobcat). I wrote about more of these alternatives earlier this fall, though I expect it will be 2012 before we start to see the low-power alternatives in many real systems.

But even without these, 2011 promises to be a very interesting year--particularly in the second half where AMD's Bulldozer-based "Interlagos" should be facing off against Intel's "Sandy Bridge - EP" in the mainstream dual-socket market. At that point, both companies will be using 32nm with AMD pushing more physical cores (at least on the dual-die version) and Intel pushing hyperthreading.

Michael J. Miller's Forward Thinking Blog: forwardthinking.pcmag.com
Michael J. Miller is chief information officer at Ziff Brothers Investments, a private investment firm. From 1991 to 2005, Miller was editor-in-chief of PC Magazine, responsible for the editorial direction, quality and presentation of the world's largest computer publication.
Until late 2006, Miller was the Chief Content Officer for Ziff Davis Media, responsible for overseeing the editorial positions of Ziff Davis's magazines, websites, and events. As Editorial Director for Ziff Davis Publishing since 1997, Miller took an active role in...
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